Trimming machine



y 28, 1 9. G. BOULTON 1,714,544

TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Aug. 3, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l //v VE/V 7.475:

May 28, 1929.

G. BOULTON TRIMMING MACHINE Filed Aug. 5, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented May 28, 1929.

UNITED STATES* 1,114,544 PATENT- OFFICE.

GEORGE BOULTON, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASBIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE n. CHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A. CORPORATION OI NEW JERSEY.

'rnnnrme MACHINE.

Application filed August 8, 1920. Serlal llo. 128,854.

This invention relates to machines for trimming one of a plurality of layers of sheet material lying in face-to-face relation, for example, the leather lining or inner facing of a shoe upper. In shoemakmg parlance an operation of this kind, known as under-trimming, is commonly performed coincidentally with the topstitching operatlon by which the finished margins of the upper are stltched to the linin According to common practice the lining for a shoe upper is made larger than the upper, and when the two are assembled to be connected by one or more rows of stitching along the finished margins of the upper they are placed so that the lining ro ects beyond the ed es of said margins. e sewing machine y which they are stitched together usually has'a reciprocatory trimming knife that trims the lining more or less closely to the finished edges of the upper, but since this knife plays up and down across the plane of the upper it is necessary to set it to clear the latter, for otherwise it would do some damage to the upper. Consequently, the trimmed edge of the lining is always visible whether it projects beyond the upper or not. i This result, that is, visibility of the linlng, 1s detrimental to the appearance of a shoe, and ac-' cordingly an object of the present invention is to provide an improved machine that will trim a lining back of the finished edges of an upper far enough to be concealed.

To this end a novel feature of the invention consists in two relatively movable trimming members arranged to operate on opposite sides of the sheet material to be trimm one of said members being formed to run between said sheet material and a finished margin of another element such as a shoe upper to separatethem, and one of said members having a cutting edge arranged to cooperate with the other one of said members to sever said sheet material behind the edge of said finished margin. Thus, when, as in the illustrated example of work, the sheet material to be trimmed is connected to the element having the finished margin by a seam extending parallel to the edge of said margin, the trimming member that runs between the connected elements of the work remains in the crease of the seam so that in performing an undertrimming operation the line of cut may be closer to the seam than has been possible with former constructions. In the illusable cutter is reciprocated in lines parallel to y the seam, but not otherwise, to produce the necessary trimming action without causing any part of the cutters to extend across the ed e of the layer not to be trimmed.

n accordance with another feature of the invention, work-feeding mechanism and the movable trimming cutter are combined such relation that the latter moves to and fro in lines parallel to the lines of feeding movement imparted to the work and trims the work in a direction counter to its direction of feeding movement. In the illustrated machine .the work is fed by a four-wa mechanism of the ty e commonly used m sewing machines, and t e movable cutter is carried by an element of said mechanism that moves back and forth only in the lines of feeding movement. An advantage of this feature is that this motion enables the movable cutter to remain in one relation to the plane of the work instead of moving transversely of said plane, as in former machines for doing this kind of work. Thus, the feed mechanism is not only used to do double duty, but is also used to solve the aforesaid prob lem of confining the cutter to lines that make extremely close trimminfi possible.

The i ustrated machine also includes a presserfoot by which the work is clam ed against a stationary work support during the periods between the feeding steps, and the movable cutter is arrangled to trim the work during these periods rat er than during the feeding periods. Thus, the movable cutter moves with the work during the feeding periods, and not only oflers no resistance to the feeding movement but ides thework so that each trimming cut will begin where the next preceding cut ended.

Referring to the drawings,-

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an undertrimming machine constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section, from the same point of view as that of Fig. 1, of mechanism adjacent to the trimming locality;

Fig. 3 illustrates a fragment of an article of work in cooperative relation to the trimming and feeding instrumenta1ities;.

feed

Fig. 4 illustrates the trimming cutters and a portion of the work-guiding member as viewed from right'to left with reference to Fi s. 1, 2 and 3;

Fig. 5 illustrates the lower portion of the work-guiding.member as viewed from front to rear;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a fragment of work that has been partly trimmed and inverted;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the general organization of the mechanism, portions of the machine frame being broken Flg. 8 is a perspective view of the work support which includes the stationary shearing member of the trimming means;

Fig. 9 is an elevation, partly in section, of the mechanism adjacent to the trimming locality, the presserfoot and the edge gage being elevated above their operative positions;

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the lower portion of the work-guiding member; and

Fig. 11 illustrates various parts of the trimming and feeding mechanisms separated from each other to show their individual shapes and details of construction.

The frame of the illustrated machine comprises a base portion 10, a horn or worksupporting portion 12 and an overhanging gooseneck portion 14. The horn portion 12 and the base 10 are connected by a horizontal hinge located at the rear but not shown, to permit the former to be tipped relatively to the base portion for access to the mechanism enclosed in the portion 12, a hook 16 being provided to connect the portions 10 and 12 at the front when they are in the relation shown.

A shaft 18 is 'journaled in the ortion 12 and is provided with a pulley 20 Fig. 1) to receive power from a belt (not shown)- This shaft is also provided with cams, hereinafter described, for operating the movable trimming cutter and the work-feeding mechanism to be described. The gooseneck portion 14 is provided with bearings for two vertical bars 22 and 24 (Figs. 1, 7 and 9) the first of which carries a roller presserfoot 26 and the other of which carries a work-guiding member 28. The details and operation of these elements are hereinafter described.

The horn portion 12 is hollow and is provided with two horizontal guide strips (Figs. 1 and 7 one of which is indicated at 30, to retain two detachable segmental cover plates 32 and 34. When these cover lates are attached as shown they form, in e set, a tubular chamber for enclosing nearly all of the mechanism carried by the outer end of the horn portion 12. A circular plate 36 (Fig. l) permanently secured to the segmental member 34 forms a closure for the lefthand end of the chamber referred to above.

A work support 38, shown separatel in Fig. 8, is afiixed to the horn portion 12 as shown by Figs. 1, 7 and 9. This support includes a stationary shearin member 40 with which a horizontally mova le shearing member 42 cooperates to trim the bottom la er of an article of work comprising a plura ity of layers. The shearing member 42 is shown best by Figs. 3, 4 and 11 and its details and operation are hereinafter described. The work support 38 is provided with a slot 43 in which a workfeeding member 44 (Figs. 9 and 11) operates with a four-way motion similar to that of the well-known under-feed of a sewin machine.

The wor -feeding member 44 is afiixed to a cam follower 46 (Fi 11) by a bolt 48. A dovetail portion 50 o the cam follower 46 is arranged to slide vertically in a dovetail guiding portion 52 of a horizontally movable feed-carria e 54, and the front and rear edges of t e follower 46 are engaged b guides 56 detachably secured to the fee carriage 54 by screws. A cam 58 affixed to the shaft 18 engages confronting surfaces of the follower 46, as shown by Figs. 2, 7 and 9, to move the feeding member 44 up and down, and the follower is cut away for clearance to provide for horizontal movement relatively to the cam.

The feed-carriage 54 is afiixed to a rod 60 the ends of which are arranged to slide in bearings 62, 62in the born 12. Movement of the feed-carriage about the axis of the rod 60 is prevented by confronting collars 64 affixed to the shaft 18, the lower portion of the feed-carriage being arranged between said collars (Fig. 2).

Horizontal reciprocatory movement is imparted to the feed-carriage 54 by a rockshaft 66 (Fig. 7 the operative connection comprising a fork 68 aflixed to the rockshaft, a block 70 (Fig. 11) embraced by the fork, and a pivot stud 72 projecting from the block through a hole 74 in the carnage. The rock-shaft 66 receives its operative movement from a cam 76 (Fig. 7) afl'ixed to the shaft 18. the connections including a forked cam follower 78 embracing the cam, a link 80. a rocker 82, a fork 84 fastened to the rocker. a block 86 embraced by the fork, and an arm 88 fastened to the rock-shaft 66. The block 86 is pivotally connected to the arm 88, the link and rocker 82 are connected by a pivot 90, the follower 78 and link 80 are connected by a pivot 92, and the cam follower 78 is supported by a pivot 94.

To utilize the return motions of the feedcarriage 54 for the purpose of operating the trimming cutter 42, said cutter is attached to a holder 96 (Fig. 2) and the latter is attached to the feed-carriage. As shown in Fig. 11, the feed-carriage is provided with confronting ribs 98 between which the holdor 96 may be seated and secured by a screw 100. A slot 102 formed in the holder 96 provides for horizontaladjustment of the cutter 42 to insure shearing relation of said cutter with the stationary cutter 40, the shearing edge of which is indicated at 104 in Figs. 4 and 8. This shearing edge is inclined to the lines of feeding movement imparted to the \vorlcand is formed on the rear side of a shoulder or abutment 106 projecting upward ly from the plane of the M rk-engaging face of the work support 88. T e confronting faces of the cutters are preferably inclined as shown by Figs. 2 and 3 to impart an undercut bevel to the trimmed edge 108 of the lining 110 as illustrated by Fig). 6. ted y a The upper 112 and lining are connec seam formed by a row of stitches 114.

The movable cutter 42 is represented as a fiat plate having a notch 116 (Fig. 4) through which a clamping screw 118 extends to bind it to the holder 96 with provision for adjustment up and down. The cutting blade 120 of the cutter 42 has an inclined shearing edge 122, a smooth, rounded back edge 124 and a lip or flange 126 formed by grinding the edge 122 not quite to the point of the blade. The blade 120, having once cut an incision in the material, remains in said incision continuously throughout all the severing and feeding periods, thereb maintaining the material against lateral isplacement and insuring that each succeeding step of the incision will begin exactly at the point reached by the last previous step thereo The arrow a in Fig. 4 indicates the ,direction in which the work is fed step by step from front to rear along the work support and across the shoulder or abutment 106. The trimmin movement and tapering formation of the b ade 120 produce a wedging action which separates the lining and the upper and enables the blade to run close to the seam formed by the stitches 114, as shown by Fig. 3. In operation, the upper 112 is bent up by the smooth, rounded surface 124 which forms the upper edgeof the cutter 42, while the lower face of the flange 126 runs on the upper surface of the severed lining. The cutting action occurs during the dwells in the feeding of the work, that is, while the cutter 42 is moving from right to left as viewed in Fig. 4, at which time the work is held stationary by the presserfoot 26 and the shoulder 106 of the stationary cutter. As the movable'cutter moves in the direction of its cutting movement, its cutting edge 122 deflects the lining downwardly and thereby bends it,

over the shoulder 106 before cutting it, the shoulder 106 at this time being effective also to prevent the work fron'i'slipping in the direction of movement of the movable cutter.

The work is guided to the cutters by the member 28 the shape of which is shown best by Figs. 4 and 5. This member is provided with a shank which is adjustably clamped to the vertically moveable bar 24 (Fig. 7) by a screw 128. A notch 132 is formed in the member 28 to receive and guide the finished edge 134 of the upper, and an inclined fin 136 is formed and arranged to engage the upper surface of the lining and to deflect the lining downwardly under the point of the movable cutter, thus to effect an initial separation of the lining and the upper for the entrance of the blade 120 between them, as hereinbefore explained.

The bar 24 which carries the work-guiding member 28 is normally depressed by a compression spring 138 and its operative level may be regulated by an adjusting screw 140. The screw is arranged to cooperate with a tinger 142 fastened to the bar 130.

The presserfoot 26 is likewise normally depressed to its work-engaging position by a compression spring 144 surrounding the bar 22. A manually operative cam lever 146 is provided to lift the presser-foot bar against the spring 144, and this lifting movement is utilized also to lift the work-guiding member 28. A lifting cam 148 acts against a finger 150 fastened to the presscrfoot bar 22 and the upward-movement thus imparted to said bar is transmitted to the bar 24 by cooperative abutments 152 and 154 fastened to said bars respectively. These abutments are adjusted to provide a short range of individual movement ofthe bar 22 while the bar 24 is at its lower limit, so that the presserfoot may rise and fall to the demands of the work and the feeding member 44 without affecting the work-guiding member 28.

During the feeding periods the feeding member 44 lifts the work sufficiently to relieve the pressure of the work against the shoulder 106 without, however, lifting it so far as to remove the point of the cutting blade 120 from its position in the crease of the seam connecting the upper and the lining, as shown .by Fig. 3. This figure illustrates a relation of the elements by which the machine is enabled to trim the lining behind the finished edge 134 of the upper without cutting the latter and, in fact, without permitting the cutting edge of the movable cutter to engage the upper. It is to be noted that the plane of the out, which coincides with the plane of the confronting faces of the two cutters, intersects the finished edge 134 of the upper, but that the only part of the movable cutter that touches the upper is the smooth,-rounded surface 124 by which the upper is bent awa from the lining. Thus, when the workgui ing member 28 is adjusted to guide the finished edge of the upper in the relation shown by Fig. 3 it is assured that the trimmed edge 108 of the lining will lie behind the finished edge of the upper, provided the upper is maintained in contact with the guiding member. It is also to be noted that an undercut bevel will be imparted'to the trimmed the stationary shearing edge 104.

edge of the upper in consequence of the acute angular relation of the cutters to the worksup orting surface of the shoulder 106. This un ercut bevel, beginning at a line behind the finished edge of the up er and receding to a greater distance behi'n said edge, not only insures invisibility of the lining ut provides a more satisfactory trimmed ed e than a square trimmmg cut would provi e.

Assuming that it is desired to trim the lining of an upper as shown, the. operator places the presserfoot and the work-guiding member 28 in their operative positions and lays a piece of work face upon the work-sup-- porting member so that the finished edge 134 of the upper will enter the notch 132 in the member 28. As the work is fed by the feeding member 44 the edge l34enters the notch and the fin 136 of the member 28 deflects the lining 110 downwardly far enough to direct it under the point ofthe movable cutter 42. During each feeding step of the work the cutter 42 moves with the work, since it has the same horizontal movements as the feeding member 44 but no u and down movement. The lining is thus ena led to advance over the shoulder 106 and under the movable cutting ed e 122 before any actual cutting occurs. A ter-eaeh feedin step the feeding member 44 descends below the level of the work, thereby permitting the resserfoot to clamp the work upon the shou der 106.

The feeding member 44 and the cutter 42 now move in the reverse direction, in consequence of which the inclined cutting edge 122 first bends the lining down behind the shoulder 106 andthen shears it with the assistance of The point of the movable cutter projects far enough beyond the range of the cut to remain on the 11 per surface of the lining at the completion 0 each cutting stroke and during the next step of feeding movement, so that after the lining is once introduced between the cutters there will always be an uncut portion of the lining between them to-guide the trailing portion of the lining into the field of trimming.

In addition to bending the lining away from theupper, the movable cutter bends the upper away from the lining, thus o ening the crease of the seam so that it is ena led to trim the lining as closely to the seam as it would be safe to trim. If it were desired to trim farther behind the finished than shown 'by Fig.- 3 it would only be necessary to adjust the guiding member 28 farther to the right after loosening the clamping screw 128 by whichsaid member is secured to the bar 24.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United .States is:

1. An uhder-trimming machine compris- "ing a pairis'of cooperative shearing cutters one of whicli is formed and arranged to run edge of said upper edge 134 ter formed and arranged to bend in the crease of a seam connectin a shoe'upper and the lining thereof and tfiiereby separate said upper seam, and means said cutters to trim said lining back of the said seam.

2. A trimmin machine comprising a air of coo erative s caring cutters one of w iich is fixe and the other'formed and arranged to run in the crease of a seam connecting 'two contiguous layers of sheet material and thereby separate'said layers adjacent to said seam, and means for reciprocating said other cutter in lines parallel to said seam.

3. An under-trimming machine comprising a pair of cooperative shearing cutters arranged to trim the lining of a shoe upper in a plane intersecting the finished margin of the upper, one of said cutters being arranged to 'run between said lining and upper to avoid cutting the latter, and means for relatively moving said cutters to cause them to function.

4. An under-trimming machine comprising a pair of cooperative shearing cutters arranged to trim the lining of a shoe upper in a plane intersecting the finished margin of the upper, means for feeding the work, and means for relatively moving said cutters to cause them 'to function, one of said cutters being arranged to run between said lininga-nd upper to separate them and to avoid cutting the upper.

5. An under-trimming machine comprising a pair of cooperative shearing cutters arranged to trim the lining of a shoe upper outside the seam by which their margins are connected and in a plane intersecting the margin of the upper, means for relatively moving said cutters to cause them to function, one of said cutters being arranged to run between said lining and upper to maintain them separated at the point of cut and to avoid cutting the upper, and means arranged to separate said lining and upper in advance of said one of said cutters.

6. A machine for severing a rial close to a seam by which to another layer, comprising a ative shearing cutters one 0 layer of mateit is fastened air of cooperwhich is arand lining adjacent to said for relatively reciprocating along a line parallel to rangedto remainin contact with both of said run in the crease formed by said for feeding the work lengthwise of said seam, and means for producing relative operating movement of said cutters.

7. A: machine for severing the projecting margin of the lining fastened by a seam to the margin of a shoe upper, comprisln g a cutthe edge of the upper away from the lining and sever the lining back of said edge, means for supporting the work so that said cutter may function as aforesaid, and means for reciproeating said cutter lengthwise of said seam.

8. A machine for trimming surplus lining layers and seam, means from a shoe upper, comprising mechanism for feeding the work, a trimming cutter movable to and fro in lines parallel to the lines of feedin movement, said cutter being arrange to cut in a direction counter to the direction of feeding for reciprocating said cutter in said lines.

9. A machine for trimming surplus lining from a shoe upper, comprising mec anism for feeding the work step by step, a trimming cutter movable to and fro in lines arallel to the lines of feeding movement, sai cutter being arranged to cut in a direction, counter to the direction of feeding movement, and means for moving said cutter with the work during the feeding steps and in the counterdirection between the feeding steps.

10. A machine for trimming surplus lining from a shoe upper, comprising a fixed shearing cutter and a movable shearing cutter arranged to cooperate with each other, and means arrange to reciprocate said movable cutter in lines parallel to the general plane of the work, the shearing edges of said cutters being inclined to said lines.

11. A machine for trimming surplus lining from a shoe upper, comprising a member having a work-supporting surface and a shearing edge inclined to sa d surface, a mov- 3o able cutter arranged in shearing relation to said inclined shearing edge, means for reciprocating said movable cutter, and means arranged to guide the lining into the cutting field of said shearing edge and said movasable cutter.

12. A machine for trimming surplus lining from a shoe upper, com rising a work-supporting member, means or feeding the work along said member, a movable cutter arranged in contact with said work-supporting member, and means for reciprocating said movable cutter in lines substantially parallel to the lines of feeding movement imparted to the work, said work-supporting member and said cutter having cooperative shearing edges arranged to bend the lining away from the upper and sever the portion of the lining so bent.

13. A machine for trimming surplus lining from a shoe upper, comprising work-feeding mechanism, a trimming cutter having a pointed blade arranged to run point foremost betweenthe upper and the lining, said blade the lining and a smooth surface arranged to engage t e confronting face of the upper, means for reciprocating said cutter in lines substantially parallel to the lines of feeding movement imparted to the work, and a como panion cutter having a shearing edge arranged to cooperate with the first said cutter to sever the lining.

14. A machine for trimming surplus lining from a shoe upper, comprising means for feeding the work step by step with dwells bemovement, and means having a shearing edge arranged to act ontween the steps, a pair of cooperative shearing cutters arran ed to sever the lining progressively, work-c ampin means arranged to act periodically to clamp the work during said dwells, and means for relatively moving said cutters to sever the lining by intermlttent stages coincidental with said dwells.

15. A trimming machine comprising mechanism for feedin" the work step by step with dwells between the steps, a pair of cooperative shearing cutters arranged to sever the work progressively by making an incision 1n intermittent stages, one of said cutters being arranged to remain in said incision during said feeding steps, and means for reciprocatingone of said cutters to cause said severing stages to occur during thedwells between the feeding steps of the work.

16. A trimming machine comprising a work-supporting member having a shearing edge, work-feedin mechanism including a reciprocatory fee -carriage and a work-engaging member having a four-way motion two stages of which are imparted by said feed-carriage, and a trimming cutter carried by said feed-carriage and having a shearing edge arranged to cooperate with that of said work-supporting member to trim work lying on the latter.

17 A trimming machine comprising a member arranged to engage the work to feed it step by step, a pair of cooperative shearing cutters for trimming the work, operating mechanism including a reciprocatory member b which said feeding member and one of said cutters are reciprocated to fee'd and trim the work alternately, and means for clamping the work periodically to hold it stationary during the trimming periods 18. A trimming machine comprising mechanism for feeding the work step by ste a work-support relatively to which the wor is fed by said mechanism, means for clamping the work periodically against said worksup ort to hold it stationary between the fee ing periods, a cutter arranged to trim the work by moving counter to the direction in which the work is fed and means for reciprocating said cutter in lines parallel to the lines of work-feeding movement, said work-support having a work-en aging shoulder arranged to cooperate wit said cutter to resist movement of the work in the counter direction.

. 19. A trimming machine comprising two relatively movable members arranged to operate on opposite sides of a layer of sheet material lying against the inner face of a shoe upper and maintained in a certain relation to the latter, one of said members being formed to run between such layer and a finished margin of the upper to separate them, and one of said members having a cutting edge arranged to cooperate wlth the other one of said members to sever said layer behind the edge of said finished margin, and ilpeans arranged to operate one of said me1n ers.

20. A trimming machine comprising two relatively movable members arranged to operate on opposite sides of a layer of sheet material lying against the inner face of a shoe upper and maintained in a. certain relation to the latter, one of said members having a tapering portion formed and arranged to run between such layer and a finished margin of the upper to wedge them apart and to maintain local separation of them, and one of said members having a cutting edge arranged to cooperate with the other one of said members to sever said layer progressively behind and substantially parallel to the edge of said finished margin, and means arranged to op erate one of said members.

21. A trimming machine comprising a work-supporting bed, mechanism arranged to feed sheet material along said bed, a trimming cutter arranged to operate on the material lying on said bed, and means arranged to reciprocate said cutter in lines parallel to v the lines of feeding movement imparted to the work.

22. A trimming machine comprising a work-supporting bed, mechanism arranged to feed sheet material step by step along said bed, a trimming cutter arranged to operate on the material lying on said bed, and means arranged to reciprocate said cutter in lines parallel to the lines of feeding movement imparted to the work, said feeding mechanism and said means being synchronized to cause the cutter to move with the work during the feeding steps thereof and to cut the work during the intervals between the feeding steps.

23. A trimming machine comprising a work-supporting bed, mechanism arranged to feed sheet material step by step along said bed, and a trimming cutter arranged to operate on the material lying on said bed, said cutter being connected to a driven element of said feeding mechanism and thereby operated to move with the work during the feeding steps thereof and to cut. the Work during the intervals between the feeding steps.

24. A trimn'iing machine comprising a work-supporting bed, mechanism arranged to clamp 21 bottom layer and a superposed layer of sheet material one against the other and feed said layers along said bed, and trimming mechanism provided with a pointed cutting blade the point of which is arranged to run between said layers, said mechanism being constructed andarran ed to reciprocate said blade in lines paral el to the lines of feeding movement imparted to the work and thereby trim said bottom layer without cutting the other said layer.

25. A cutting machine comprising mech anism arranged to feed a bottom layer and a superposed layer of sheet material lying in face-to-face contact with each other, a cutting blade having a point arranged to run between said layers, a cutting edge arranged to intersect one of said layers, and a. smooth surface arranged to run on the. other. one of said layers, and mechanism arranged to reciprocate said blade in lines parallel to the lines of feeding movement imparted to the layers.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE BOULTON. 

